Machines might make voting fun

New equipment for disabled reduces need for help at polling places.

New equipment for disabled reduces need for help at polling places.

November 05, 2006|BARBARA DEMPSEY Tribune Correspondent

CASSOPOLIS -- It's a voting machine for the disabled, but it's liable to be so much fun that more people will want to use it. If you have sight problems, you can make the monitor's background black and the letters white. If the words appear too small, you can make them bigger. You can adjust the sound, scroll down, touch the screen, use a key pad or vote in Braille. It's called ES&S AutoMARK, and like all of the new voting machines that have been purchased with funds from the Help America Vote Act (HAVA), there is one in every voting location in Cass County. Secured with part of the $100 million that Michigan received as part of a federal mandate to replace outdated voting equipment, the AutoMARK is designed to help those in wheelchairs or anyone who has required help to vote, to do so. But it is also available to any voter willing to give it a try. There are 21 AutoMARK machines -- one in every voting location -- in Cass County, along with 27 optical scan devices, said Cass County Clerk/Register Barbara Wilson. The AutoMARK was demonstrated this past week for the Cass County Board of Commissioners. Despite some concern that the machine will intimidate the disabled because there are so many choices, Wilson tried to dispel that notion. "I was intimidated by it until I worked it," she said. "It really is very basic and the election workers have been trained to assist with it." "They will panic," said Commissioner Johnie Rodebush, D-Niles. Commissioner John Cureton, R-Dowagiac, said he believes "it is too complicated a system and will disenfranchise people." Wilson was not convinced. If she is right, voters who previously needed help in voting won't need it anyone -- except, perhaps for an initial walk through by an election worker. The AutoMARK machine first appeared in the August primary and Jefferson Township, for one, had four voters use it. "They were just thrilled," said Jefferson Deputy Clerk, Sandy Kronewitter. She noted that while she is "still getting the kinks out, it just makes voters feel good about themselves that they can finally vote by themselves. It (the machine) provides more independence." Wilson also hopes that some people who previously have voted by absentee ballot now will vote in person. The AutoMark is strictly a marking device. It doesn't tabulate the vote but rather drops the voter's ballot into a secrecy sleeve which the voter or an election worker then can take to the tabulator. Wilson explained that a voter can insert the ballot, listen to instructions, and even type in the name of a write-in candidate, which can be canceled out at any time. Step-by-step instructions allow all selections to be made after which a summary screen will appear. "The voter then has an opportunity to review elections before submitting the ballot. For people who have not been able to vote, it will mean a lot," Wilson said. All of the county's voting machines were ordered earlier this year from Sequoia Optech Insight, one of three state-mandated vendors that Wilson, along with township and city clerks, chose so the voting machines would be alike. Until this year, only Penn, Volinia and Calvin townships did not have optical scan equipment, Wilson said.